Workday @ The Texas A&M System

A Technical Insider's View

Mark SchulzIT Enterprise Architect

Before Workday …. there was BPP

2

• The story begins in 1977• Replaced a Texas A&M punch card system

• Green screens were New! and a DBMS (IMS) was used for the first time

• Summer 1979 gave us the first payroll• Vendor filed for bankruptcy due to cost overruns and delays

• Quickly becomes A&M System standard

• “Paycalc” (BP5005) possibly modified more than 500 times• BPP - worked on by over 50 employees over 35 years

• 2001: Database converted to ADABAS/Natural

• 2002: HRConnect – first web add on

• 2003: LeaveTraq – second web add on

• 2004: Canopy and EPAs

BPP – In All Its Glory….

3

Finding a Replacement for BPP

Structured Process Inclusive Process Transparent Process

• Almost 10 months to

announce, post, evaluate

and select a solution

• Evaluation team

reviewed responses and

materials at each

stage gate

• All members represented

• Nearly 500 employees

from Payroll, Human

Resources, Finance, and

Information Technology

participated

• Request for Proposal

was competitively bid

following all system and

State procurement

guidelines

4

2013Deloitte IT Assessment

– Retire BPP

Early 2014Hire Consultant

Summer2014Develop Requirements

August 2014Issue RFP

Fall 2014Evaluate and Discover

Winter 2015Oracle, Workday Demos

And the Overwhelming Conclusion…

5

Why Workday?

6

New and Modern

• Built after 2006

• Incorporates modern IT architecture

and design principles

Overwhelming User Preference

• Preferred by 89% of the nearly 500

participants in the RFP,

demonstration and evaluation

process

SaaS

• Adheres with Legislative directives

• Utilizes practices leveraged in the

private sector

• Reduces TAMUS dependence on

custom software development

Upgrades

• Ensures TAMUS is always on the

current version of software

• Upgrades come at no additional

cost to membersPredictable Costs

• Subscription costs are predictable

and require no additional outlays of

capital for hardware or softwareBusiness Process-Centric

• Functions and features are based

on business processes with pre-

defined workflows, approvals,

notifications and integrations

• All members will share common,

application- designed business

processes

Superior User Interface

• User friendly

• Access all functionality via multiple

devices, including smartphone,

tablet, etc.

Integrated Analytics

• Integrated tools allow mining and

analysis of all stored data

Go Live December 2017

7

HCM

(Core HR)Absence Recruiting

CompensationTime

Tracking

Talent

Management

Benefits ReportingPerformance

Management

Payroll

What’s Replaced by Workday?

8

Staying in Place

eTravel / Concur

Glacier

Maestro

Time & Effort

TrainTraq

Replaced by Workday

BPP

EPAs

Guardian I-9

HR Connect

iBenefits

LeaveTraq

PeopleAdmin (PATH)

TimeTraq

Our Journey Begins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHo5bts2WYk&t=6s

9

Behind the Workday Cloud….

• Workday is built on an in-memory object model

• No relational model, no tables, no SQL

• Java based with proprietary “XpressOmeta data abstraction layer”

• MySQL used as persistence layer only

• Calculated fields, but no code to touch or see

• Object model can be a challenge to learn

10

Implementing Workday

11

• Configure vs. Build Code• Table values, rule engines, business processes, calculated values

• Prototype• Agile approach, two prototypes completed

• Convert and validate• Find data inconsistencies with each prototype

• Integrate• FAMIS, Federal agencies, State of Texas, health and

wellness partners

• Make decisions

• Re-evaluate business processes

Implementing Workday

12

Our functional users are empowered

At times our technical team had a hard time keeping up

The Technical Team’s Role

• Integrations• Significant work in FAMIS, Canopy, Data Warehouse and SSO

Web apps

• Conversion

• Oversee testing

• Partner to identify solutions and fill the gaps

• Build critical data warehouse loads for downstream use

13

EIB Integrations

14

Connector Integrations

15

Studio Integrations

16

SOAP Web Services API

• Fully versioned

• Designed for system to system integration

• Several hundred available

17

REST API

• REST API is an addition to the public APIs

• RESTful interface is intended to support enterprise web and mobile applications characterized by small transactions initiated by end users

18

Reports as a Service

• Supports both REST and SOAP

19

Where We Are Today with APIs

• Limited use of the APIs to date

• Most integrations built as file exchange using the EIB structure

• No outbound synchronous API calls from Workday• Allowed, but the business process will not act on a response

• Investigating a publish / subscribe (RabbitMQ) tools

• Looking at API governance and security frameworks

• We want to open this up to you over time

20

Business Objects Remains Part of the Solution

Key Subject Areas / Universes

Employee/Worker Hours worked and FTE history

Positions Next year positions (Prep Budget)

Positions with funding Payroll History

21

Data Warehouse

• We are keeping a fair amount of legacy compatibility• PINs

• Adlocs – mapping to FAMIS department codes

• UINs

• Title Codes

• And hope to get rid of some

22

Innovating with the Workday tools

23

BPP: Extended Pay Plan

Workday: Save for Summer

Questions?

24

Final Thoughts

• It’s a new world• It’s no longer about writing code to solve business problems

• Those of us with application development backgrounds must continue to adapt

• Focus on building relationships• Engage and partner with the business

• Build relationships with customers and vendors

• Re-work business processes

• Skills in building critical integrations will continue to be highly valued

25